As Kommersant learned, new criminal cases against participants in the construction of fortifications on the border with Ukraine in the Kursk region have reached the court. The former head of the regional development corporation Vladimir Lukin, ex-regional Duma deputy Maxim Vasiliev and two entrepreneurs will again be in the dock. All of them were previously sentenced to various terms for embezzlement of more than 150 million rubles. during the construction of defensive structures. Now they and the deputy of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) council Tatyana Bondarenko are accused of laundering stolen money.
The Leninsky District Court of Kursk received criminal cases against the former head of the regional development corporation Vladimir Lukin, ex-deputy of the regional Duma Maxim Vasiliev, as well as entrepreneurs Vitaly Singovsky and Andrei Volovikov. According to the file of cases, they are charged with legalizing criminal proceeds as part of a group of persons on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, up to seven years in prison). Law enforcement officers consider Vladimir Lukin to be the organizer of this crime. Also, the case of DPR council member Tatyana Bondarenko, who is also accused of particularly large-scale embezzlement (Part 4 of Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, up to ten years in prison), has reached the court.
This week, the materials were distributed to three judges: the cases of Vasiliev and Singovsky, who entered into plea deals with the investigation, will be considered separately. The dates for the first meetings have not yet been set. Law enforcement agencies did not officially announce the completion of the investigation. In court, Kommersant was told that all information is available on the website.
According to a Kommersant source familiar with the case, it concerns money that was stolen during the construction of defensive structures.
In 2022, the construction of the so-called abatis line began in the Kursk region, for which the federal budget allocated more than 19 billion rubles. Defensive structures – ditches, dugouts, firing points and strongholds – were supposed to be built in less than a year, but the work was never completed. In August 2024, the Ukrainian armed forces were able to occupy part of the Kursk region, and were then driven out by the Russian army.
An audit by the Prosecutor General’s Office showed that during the construction, which was financed through the regional JSC Kursk Region Development Corporation, the participants stole more than 4 billion rubles. Instead of constructing protective structures, contractors created the appearance of work and, using fictitious contracts for the supply of construction materials and equipment, siphoned off budget money. Oversight found that officials covered for them by receiving kickbacks from contracts.
As Kommersant told530 million rub. were spent by construction participants on the purchase of real estate and cars.
At the request of the prosecutor’s office, the court in Kursk recovered the entire amount of damage from several former employees of the corporation and entrepreneurs, including Vladimir Lukin and Maxim Vasiliev. Subsequently, they were found guilty of embezzlement of more than 150 million rubles. on the construction of a section of defensive structures in the Glushkovsky district.
Vladimir Lukin, who did not admit guilt received nine years in prison. Maxim Vasiliev thanks to a plea deal was sentenced to five years and six months in prison. Vitaly Singovsky, who gave evidence to the investigation against other participants in the theft in the Glushkovsky district, was sentenced to four years, and Andrei Volovikov, who denied guilt, was sentenced to eight and a half years.
Total for theft during the construction of defensive structures in the Kursk region were convicted 13 people.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted an active investigation of their criminal cases in 2024–2025. The last reported detainee in the case was Tatyana Bondarenko, who was involved in business and politics in Kursk before being elected to the DPR Council of Deputies in 2023. In 2021–2022, she ran unsuccessfully for the regional duma and city assembly on behalf of the New People and the Pensioners Party.
Last October, Tatyana Bondarenko detained and taken into custody in Moscow on charges of embezzlement of 14 million rubles. during the construction of fortifications. The investigation believes that she not only participated in the withdrawal of money, but also purchased real estate with it. Tatyana Bondarenko herself denies guilt.
